Now that I've been reborn, I have to play tennis!

Chapter 60 The Big Purchase and the Finals
"The level of this semi-final is much higher than the previous one!"

"That's true. Luckily, our two local Chinese players met in the semifinals! If they had been in different halves of the bracket, most likely neither of them would have made it to the finals!"

In the stands, many fans were whispering among themselves.

These words naturally reached Meng Hao's ears as well.

He just smiled faintly and didn't take it seriously.

Football experts can be found everywhere!

However, this semi-final match truly broadened Meng Hao's horizons.

These European coaches are just as good at yelling as their Asian counterparts.

He also recalled a quote from Aryna Sabalenka, who later became the world's number one female tennis player: "The setbacks and hardships we, the players from small Eastern European countries, have experienced are unimaginable to you, the players from the United States and Western Europe."

Yes, it's truly unimaginable...

For example, if the person standing in front of that coach had been an Eastern European female player, that guy would probably have said the same thing: If you can't win the game, then why don't you go to the Czech Republic and work as a prostitute!

Which girl could stand such insults?

Although many young Chinese players are currently learning football in Eastern Europe because it's cheaper and offers better quality at a lower cost, Eastern European coaches are generally not as strict with young Chinese players.

After all, the young Chinese tennis players who can go to Eastern Europe to learn tennis generally come from relatively wealthy families, and if they don't succeed in the sport, they can always go back and inherit their family businesses.

Different groups of people will be treated differently.

……

Guangzhou today should be a football city.

When Meng Hao strolled along the pedestrian street at night, he could see fans wearing red Evergrande jerseys at any time. After all, this was the time when Brother Belt was at his most triumphant.

He walked for a while and then entered a sports merchandise store.

Playing tennis really wears out shoes. My pair of ASICS shoes, which I bought not long ago, have already worn through after a few intense matches.

He had a spare pair, but it wasn't nearly enough.

Professional tennis players typically need one or two pairs of shoes as spares.

After browsing around for a while, Meng Hao gave up on Nike and Adidas tennis shoes; he didn't dare to take too much of a risk.

Tennis players are just as demanding of their shoes as basketball players.

Meng Hao has very keen senses; he can immediately feel even the slightest discomfort when wearing shoes.

Besides Nike and Adidas, ASICS and Yonex are also popular tennis shoe brands.

Meanwhile, Anta, a leading Chinese sportswear brand, has just entered the tennis industry and launched a new tennis shoe.

Meng Hao tried it on and found it quite comfortable, without any discomfort.

Sometimes you have to admit that Asian businesses understand Asian feet better and know how to design for comfort.

Three words: Buy, buy, buy!
Having gotten the benefits from Boss Ma, Meng Hao has indeed become much more generous.

He bought three pairs of Anta, three pairs of ASICS, and three pairs of Yonex tennis shoes in one go, for a total of nine pairs.

It cost about 15,000 yuan!

There's nothing we can do about it; he's just very good at sliding and uses it frequently.

Sliding shoes ruin your shoes!
Meng Hao returned to the hotel, carrying a bunch of sneakers in large and small bags, completely satisfied.

When the hotel staff saw Meng Hao's entourage, they thought that this young man was also working as a shoe reseller in addition to playing basketball.

……

After a day of rest, the final of this challenge officially began.

The indoor stadium, which can accommodate more than 1000 people, was gradually filled to about 80-90% capacity, and many of the players were wearing Evergrande jerseys.

After doing some simple warm-up exercises, Meng Hao picked up his racket and went onto the court.

On the other side of the court, Coric was also eager to try his hand at the game. "Come on, let's win the championship!" Coric's bald coach shouted aggressively.

Meng Hao glanced expressionlessly at the fierce-looking coach, then lowered his head and rhythmically dribbled the tennis ball.

"Meng Hao, win the championship! I'll give you a heads-up: if you win today, our station's sports news will give you at least two minutes of coverage!" Chen Yu shouted loudly.

Even after winning the championship, they only got two minutes of screen time in sports news?
That's right, it's just a challenge tournament, even though Chinese men's tennis has never won a challenge tournament title.

Meng Hao raised his hand and gently tossed the tennis ball into the air.

Currich bent over slightly, watching Meng Hao's actions with a hint of confusion in his eyes.

He is a Federer fan and enjoys watching Federer's matches.

For some reason, the serving motion of the Chinese player on the other side seemed to have something in common with that Swiss star.

coming!

Coric immediately started moving, pushing off the ground with one foot and then swinging his racket to hit the ball back.

"What an excellent serve return!" Meng Hao thought to himself.

Although this serve wasn't at his best, the overall quality was quite good.

Meng Hao's tactical transition was very smooth; he immediately swung his backhand and hit the ball into a wide-open space.

Coric sprinted to the other side and caught up with the ball in just a few steps.

He slid sideways, then swung his racket with both hands, hitting a powerful, high-angle cross-court shot.

Seeing this, Meng Hao was also startled and tried his best to save the ball.

At this point, the roles of offense and defense have actually shifted.

Instead, he found himself in a passive position.

This is often how it is when masters clash: one round you may be in the lead, but the next you may find yourself in a disadvantageous and passive position.

It can be said to be constantly changing.

Meng Hao's return shot was somewhat forced, and the landing point was not deep.

Coric also realized that he had the initiative in this round.

He immediately ran a few steps onto the court, his body taut like a drawn bow, and lashed the bouncing tennis ball out like a whip.

Coric wanted to start his journey to the final with a beautiful winner.

Meng Hao ran at full speed, and his speed was equally astonishing.

Coric's shot was powerful and fast, but the angle wasn't particularly tricky.

When Meng Hao arrived, he instinctively stretched out his racket and gently touched the tennis ball that had just bounced up, without exerting any force.

It's all in the blink of an eye.

Coric had no time to react; the ball flew right to his feet.

It's so fast!

He hadn't even had time to retract his swing from the ball yet.

The bright green tennis ball landed right on his shoe and then slowly rolled away.

Meng Hao scored the first point, making it 15-0!

Does this work too?
Coric looked utterly frustrated and helpless.

Meng Hao smiled too.

That last shot was a hasty, casual strike, but it unexpectedly turned into a stroke of genius.

It seems my luck won't be bad in today's final!
……

(End of this chapter)